Study on understanding consumer’s perception to develop a market forSMART Washing Powder- a home care product from ACI Consumer Brands

Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited is one of the leading conglomerates in Bangladesh, with a multinational heritage. It was established as a subsidiary of Imperial chemical Industries (ICI) plc, U.K in 1968, at that time it was one of the oldest industrial units in our country. After the liberation war, the enterprise was declared „abandoned‟. On 24 June 1973, the factory re started its operations under the name ICI Bangladesh Manufactures Limited. On the 5th of May 1992, ICI plc divested 70% of its share to local management and hence the company, ACI Limited came into existence.

Today ACI Limited is a leading corporate body in Bangladesh. It is a public limited company with a total number of 15,550 shareholders. Among these, there are six foreign as well as fourteen local institutional shareholders. This Company also obtained listing with Dhaka Stock Exchange on 28 December, 1976 and its first trading of shares took place on 9 March, 1994. Later on 5 May, 1992, ICI plc divested 70% of its shareholding to local management.

Subsequently the company was registered in the name of Advanced Chemical Industries Limited. Listing with Chittagong Stock Exchange was made on 22 October 1995.

Strategic Business Units of ACI: ACI has diversified its business into four major Categories:

Pharmaceuticals

Consumer Brands & Commodity Products

Retail Chain

Agribusinesses:

Crop Care Public Health

Animal Health

Fertilizer

Motors

Cropex

Seeds

Subsidiaries of ACI:

ACI Formulations Limited

ACI Logistics Limited

ACI Pure Flour Limited

ACI Foods Limited

ACI Salt Limited

ACI Motors Limited

Creative Communication Limited

Premiaflex Plastics Limited

ACI Agrochemicals Limited

Flyban Insecticides Limited

Apex Leather Crafts Limited

ACI Edible Oils Limited

ACI Healthcare Limited

ACI Chemicals Limited

Joint Ventures with ACI:

ACI Godrej Agrovet Private Limited

Tetley ACI (Bangladesh) Limited

Asian Consumer Care (Pvt) Limited.

ACI has wide variety of product under various strategic business units, subsidiaries and joint ventures. If I mention all of its products, then only the introduction will take 100 of pages! Here, I am listing on the offerings from the Consumer Brands as I was an intern of Consumer Brands and I got chance to work with these brands (media & communication) directly.

Consumer Brands & Commodity Products

ACI Consumer Brands was initiated in 1995 with two major brands of the company – ACI Aerosol and Savlon. These are two of most prestigious products which are enjoying the leadership position in the market. The division started to take new businesses through off shore trading as well as local manufacturing. In this process ACI Consumer Brands launched many new products and also bonded with Joint Venture business relationships with „Dabur India‟ and“Tetley UK‟ and attained international alliances with world renowned companies.

The Consumer Brands Division boasts in having an unequivocal presence in consumers’ heart with the market leading brands like ACI Aerosol, Savlon, ACI Mosquito Coil & ACI Pure Spices and Flour. With close to 80% market share in own categories, ACI Aerosol and Savlon are the persistent performers in keeping the household clean and free from germs and harmful insects. The ACI mosquito coil has also emerged as a formidable opponent to both the mosquito and the competition, by providing effective and affordable solution to the conscious people of Bangladesh.

A sound mind goes with a sound body-ACI believes in this age old proverb and our young generation needs to grow up with healthy physique and sound mind who will lead the nation in future. With this belief, ACI has entered in to the commodity food business with “ACI Pure” Brand. The aim is to provide purest of the food products to Bangladeshi consumers at affordable price for which ACI has invested in very large scale in state of the art manufacturing facilities for daily kitchen essentials like vacuum evaporated edible Salt, Spices and Flour. The products are delighting the consumers by providing 100% dirt free, pure and natural food ingredients which can compete against any international products.

ACI Consumer Brands is successfully serving the consumer demand for foreign products in household and personal care category with the world renowned product range of Colgate, Nivea & Dabur. With the proper distribution and marketing by ACI consumer brands, the world’s No. 1 tea brand “Tetley” is now available to the consumers of Bangladesh.

Household Insecticides

ACI Aerosol and ACI Cockroach Spray: One of the most common problems people face in Bangladesh is the irritation of insects like mosquito, cockroach and others. Many diseases like Malaria, Dengue and others are transmitted to human by insects. ACI came up with an effective solution to this problem and offered a range of insect killing products like ACI Aerosol, Mosquito Coil and Cockroach Killer Spray.

Since its inception in 1967, ACI Aerosol has been the number one choice of consumers in Bangladesh. The effort to ensure the highest quality has helped ACI to be THE MOST EFFECTIVE MOSQUITO KILLER. To meet the requirement of consumers of different socio economic group, ACI Aerosol is available all around the country in four different pack sizes.

They are: 800 ml, 475 ml, 350 ml and 250 ml.

ACI launched its „ACI Cockroach Spray‟ in June 2008, the first ever locally manufactured Cockroach killing Spray with an objective of giving people relief from the menace of Cockroaches and also making the whole process of killing Cockroaches a safer and convenient one as using powder and chalk is harmful for health. Efficacy of the product is very high and it allows consumers to get rid of cockroaches quickly.

ACI Mosquito Coil: ACI Mosquito Coil is another important product of the Home Care category of ACI Consumer Brands. ACI Mosquito Coil has different Brands based on different shape, color and fragrance and price. ACI Mosquito coil has the following brands:

ACI Hi Power.

ACI Super.

ACI High Booster and

ACI black fighter

Because consumers‟ health and well being is always a priority to ACI we have top quality active ingredients like Metofluthrin and D-Allethrin from Sumitomo Corporation of Japan. None of our Coils have any harmful ingredients like DDT or Endrin in it. Among all its brands ACI Black Fighter has already captured the position of market leader in black coil category.

Antiseptics & Personal Care:

Savlon one of the world leading brands in personal hygiene has been a part of ACI‟s portfolio since the inception of this company. Savlon is as well recognized elsewhere in the world as it is in Bangladesh and ACI is proud to bring such a household name from around the world to your homes.

This brand since the start has worked relentlessly in order to keep the people of Bangladesh germ free. Following its motto Savlon has brought many innovative product ranges to achieve its ultimate goal and it is still doing so to ensure you are germ free.

As a Brand Savlon has two major Product Rages that it uses to provide personal hygiene to the people of Bangladesh. Antiseptic Range: ACI‟s Flagship brands Savlon has two categories in its antiseptic range the Antiseptic creams and the Liquid Antiseptics. In both categories it‟s the undisputed market leader, holding 72% and 75% market shares in respective segments. As the competition lags furlongs in its wake the antiseptic range is still not about to give any headway to anyone, as it strides to make the people of Bangladesh germ free. Antiseptic Cream: Savlon Antiseptic Cream combines germ-killing power and long-lasting protection in a soothing cream. Formulated to treat cuts, scratches, blisters, grazes, insect bites, windburn, sunburn, nappy rash or even cracked and itchy skin. Soothes skin and helps protect against infections.

It has 2 specific SKUs in this segment the 30g and 60g tubes. Both of which are hugely popular among its customers.

Liquid Antiseptics: Even if it‟s just a scrape on the knee or an insect bite, cleaning a wound properly is vital to avoid the risk of infection. With a bottle of Savlon Antiseptic Liquid in the house, it couldn‟t be easier.

Because of its antiseptic action, it helps protect your family by gently cleansing and helping to prevent infection. Use Savlon Antiseptic Liquid on cuts and grazes, insect bites and stings, minor burns and scalds – even for personal care in the bath or for midwifery. It has a total of 6 SKUs 56ml, 112ml, 500ml, 1Ltr, 5Ltr, HC 5Ltr. Savlon provides so many SKUs in the Liquid range to make sure that everyone has a size for every need.

First Aid Kit: The first aid Kit consists of a 56 ml or 112 ml Liquid Antiseptic along with a 30g or 60g antiseptic cream supported by Gauges, Adhesive Bandages, Thermometers, Cottons etc. So in case of an unwanted accident you have the proper tool to cope with the immediate threat and save further problems.

Savlon Antiseptic Soap: For bath time pleasure and protection from bacteria and also a stress less shower, ACI Consumer Brands has Savlon Antiseptic Soap in three variants- Active, Mild and Fresh Antiseptic soap. Savlon Antiseptic Soap delights its consumers through ensuring complete family protection with these three different variants. Pack size is available in 75 gm and 100 gm of each variant.

Savlon Antiseptic Handwash: Hand washing with soap is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Savlon Hand wash brings more excitement and pleasure in regular hand washing practice of consumers by its three different variants- Active, Aloe Vera and Ocean Blue Hand Wash. Savlon Hand Wash leaves consumers‟ skin feeling smooth, soft and refreshed thus ensuring „a complete family protection against germ in a charming way. Pack size is available in 200 ml Standy Pouch, 250 ml & 500 ml Dispensing Pump and 1 L Re-fill of each variant. Savlon Shower Gel: ACI Consumer Brands has introduced Savlon Shower Gel. It is available in 250 ml Dispensing Pump in two variants of mixed flower and mixed fruit extracts. The shower gel market is comparatively a new one. However, this is growing market at a very fast rate in the metro market. Savlon, as the leading brand in personal hygiene, has taken the lead to introduce these products in the market among the local players. Today, in the stressful metro life, bathing experience for consumers has become not only a task to cleanse the body, but an occasion to relax and de-stress so that they can rejuvenate themselves. Considering this platform, Savlon Shower Gel is designed to offer a more spa-like experience with stronger scents and more holistic additives than regular soap. Mixed flower extracts refresh the senses with an elegant yet soft fragrance and mixed fruit extracts awaken the senses with a hint of fruity fragrance. The Extrapone flower extract evokes the warmth and subtle sweetness of floral fragrances. The natural Extrapone fruit extract moisturizes and soothes for a sparkling clean skin. Savlon Shower gel‟s odor killing Triclosan combined with Hydroviton 24 keeps the skin smooth and soft all day.

Home Care:

Angelic Fresh Air Freshener: Air Care is yet another product category ACI enriches its customers‟ lives with. Angelic Air Freshener; the pioneer among locally manufactured air fresheners is the leader in the category. It is the perfect way to fill your home, office or car with a cool soothing fragrance and to make the environment relaxed and tranquil. Its enticing fragrances are made from essential oils extracted from fruits, flowers and plants which lift your mood up and take you to the world of imagination. Citrus Burst, Orchid Breeze, Sparkling Orange, Fruit Punch, Misty Wood, Amazonia, Anti Tabac and Green Valley are the variants available in Angelic Fresh Air Freshener range.

Angelic Auto Dispenser Air Freshener: Angelic Auto Dispenser is a battery operated machine to guarantee continuous discharge of fragrance that will keep the air fresh and charming for you and people around you at home or at workplace. It ensures a brighter, happier living place or office. With a choice of 2 exquisite fragrances to lift up your mood, Angelic Auto Dispenser will keep your home smelling sublime. Moreover, this smart looking machine will make the interior more elegant.

Each Refill contains 3,000 sprays which will last up to 125 days. With 3 time interval levels to choose from, you can adjust the discharge rate of fragrance to exactly the way you want.

Angelic Aqua Fresh: Angelic Aqua Fresh is a unique gas free, water based air freshener that delivers up to 12 hours of freshness to your home. This innovative home fragrance product contains elements that will burst to give you a mild fragrance once you sit, walk over or come in contact any other way with the spray residue. Now that is amazing! The Angelic Aqua Fresh “STAYS” in your room to keep you in mood. The light and invigorating mist allows you to instantly relish a beautiful home fragrance that smells as fresh as nature intended. It’s so fresh that you’ll want to use it in every room and from a single bottle you can spray about 690 times. Angelic Aqua Fresh comes in two variants; Zesty Jasmine and Rain Forest. It is perfect for use on car, office, home, sofa, curtain, carpet, cushion, bedspread, upholsteries, in wardrobe etc. Vanish Toilet Cleaner: Vanish Quick Action Toilet Cleaner is a member of ACI Limited since 2003, but it was reborn in 2008 with new and attractive packaging with two different functional pack sizes like: 500 ml and 750 ml SKU. Vanish is the most effective toilet cleaner that kills 99.99% germs and ensure the maximum cleanliness in only 10 minutes , while the other toilet cleaner in the market including the most established brand offers cleaning and germ cleaning in 20 minutes. It has the excellent formulation added with Xantham Gum, LABSA and hydrochloric acid to challenge the product efficacy to any other brands in Bangladesh.

Cleanit ROBO Carwash: CleanIT ROBO is a car shampoo with wax that deals with even the toughest dirt, protecting original paints and leaving a shiny effect offered by its wax properties. Ordinary soaps or shampoos contain salt and other harmful properties which may destroy the original paints and protective coating on the car.

Cleanit Shinex Floor Cleaner: Cleanit Shinex Floor Cleaner is a surfactant based floor cleaner enriched with natural pine disinfectant and suitable for use on any type of floor surface. Its 4 in 1 Action effectively cleans shines, disinfects, and deodorizes the surface leaving a pleasant fragrance.

Cleanit Shinex Glass Cleaner: Under “CleanIT”, Shinex Glass Cleaner is the brand of glass cleaner which is a product intended to be used on any type of glass or similar surfaces with a steak free promise to make the glass look clear as well as to ensure proper hygiene and cleanliness.

Smart Washing Powder: Recently ACI has added another product in its family. This time it adds value to the Fabric Cleaner category. SMART washing powder is the smart solution for the fabric care. This washing powder is enriched with foaming booster, optical brightener which helps a lot to clean the cloth. While launching this product, ACI secures the consumers‟ hands safety and the safety of clothes at the same time.

Female Hygiene:

Savlon Freedom Sanitary Napkin: To ensure good female hygiene practice among the Bangladeshi women, ACI launched Savlon Freedom sanitary napkin in 2008 under the Female Hygiene Category. ACI is always trusted by the consumers for its excellent product superiority. The product superiority of Freedom sanitary napkin has further increased the trust of the consumers.

Savlon Freedom is the international standard Sanitary Napkin manufactured through World’s latest technology. It provides the highest absorbent capacity and best dry feel advantage to make the user feel comfort and protected, so that she can move ahead equally in the 30 days of the month.

Commodity Foods:

ACI Pure Salt: “ACI Pure Salt was launched in 2005. Within the very short period it has been enjoying the pride of the Brand Leader. The best in its kind, ACI Pure Salt is vacuum evaporated, free flowing and properly iodized. It is also very porous and free flowing. Iodine is coated in every single grain which makes it an essential product for the children; the absence of right quantity of iodine in their food may cause mental disability to them. ACI Pure Salt has won the “BEST BRAND OF BANGLADESH AWARD 2008” for unparallel customer loyalty beating all the brands in Foods & Beverages category.

ACI Pure Sugar: ACI Limited has launched sugar under the brand “ACI Pure” in 2010. “ACI Pure Sugar” was launched in an attractive three layer laminated pack. Its outstanding color and striking design will draw the consumer‟s attention. This is yet another step by ACI Consumer Brands to enrich the consumers‟ kitchen with Pure Food products in Bangladesh. It is being made through state-of-the-art technology with 99.9% polarization, which makes it sweeter than any other sugar brands.

ACI Consumer Electronics World renowned electronics company Panasonic and ACI Limited has joined together to bring the Panasonic Audio Visual products and Home Appliances to Bangladeshi consumers. The association was formally announced on the 16th of April 2008 through the launching ceremony in Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center. Under this arrangement with Panasonic regional office in Singapore, ACI Consumer Electronics, a newly formed division in ACI Consumer Brands

SBU will market the Panasonic AV line along with its Home Appliance products in Bangladesh. Panasonic has a rich range of AV products comprising of High Definition LCD and Plasma Television, Home Theatre system, DVD and Blu-ray DVD player, Digital Still Camera & Camcorder. The Panasonic Home Appliance line comprises of high end refrigerator and Alkaline Battery. The LCD and Plasma TVs are marketed under Panasonic VIERA brand and Cameras are marketed under LUMIX brand.

Mobile Division

ACI large conglomerate of Bangladesh having Business in the area of Pharmaceutical, Consumer Brand, Agribusiness and Retail Chain has entered in to technological through most updated electronic telecommunication devices in the brand name of Stylus. Stylus offers exiting range of smart and feature mobile handset and accessories that will be cater the need of each category of customer.

ACI Electrical Division

SPARKLE is the in house brand of ACI. SPARKLE has various items such as Tube Light, LED Light, Socket, Switch board, Ceiling fan & other electrical goods.

Human Resources Department:

ACI HR works with a vision for creating a work-environment to foster creativity, innovation and productivity for achieving business excellence through dynamic and dedicated people. ACI- HR dept. believes that Human Resources are the most important asset of the organization.

They identify the training needs and provide trainings accordingly to develop the knowledge and skills of human resources. Thought Leadership and Team Building meetings are conducted on a regular basis. They provide an enabling working environment to unleash the full potential of the employees and a performance based career progression.

ACI Finance and Planning function is the nerve centre of the conglomerate. Being the nature of the structure, ACI Finance and Planning plays the centralized role in all kinds of financial and accounting services. Meaning it handles financial and accounting matters of not only ACI

Limited but also of all of its subsidiaries supporting the mission and vision of the Group. The major areas of its activities include:

Corporate Finance

Treasury

Insurance and risk management

Costing

Credit Management

Accounts payable management

General accounting

Taxation

New business management

The Planning function not only compiles and coordinate the company plan of the conglomerate but also instrumental in feeding the CEO and top team different macro and micro economic situation of the country as well as world in large. These in-depth analyses help the company to make correct and pragmatic decision as a part of strategic initiative.

Distribution:

The company maintains strategically located sales centers in nineteen different locations across the country. It has developed an advanced distribution system through its more than 300 skilled and trained manpower and a large fleet over eighty vehicles. The distribution system is capable of handling continuing volume of diverse range of products from the various businesses.

The company’s distribution centers are highly streamlined, computerized and automated. We are capable of maintaining a cold chain for some specialized range of products such as vaccines and insulin. The combination of this advanced function and multidimensional capabilities made it possible to handle hundreds of products efficiently.

Commercial Department:

Commercial Department of ACI is one of the most vital functional departments of the Company which deals with the supply chain activities of ACI. In order to keep all the businesses running flawlessly, the dedicated and hard working employees of this department maintain a good liaison with the customers, both national and international. The Commercial Department is consistently achieving the best prices for the products that we purchase, ensuring enormous amount of cost savings for the company. It offers invincible professionalism and expertise in the entire commercial activities of ACI.

MIS Department:

MIS department of ACI ensures the overall IT related supports for the company. This department manages a smooth operation of software’s, hardware trouble shooting and business databases related to sales and inventory. The MIS department consists of knowledgeable and skilled programmers and software developers. MIS provides customized report and data analysis to the management to facilitate effective decision making.

Training:

Training activities of ACI is focused on transforming its human capital to achieve business excellence by increasing the bandwidth of ACI workforce. To win present and future challenges we identify knowledge and skill sets that are pivotal factors and we design a variety of programs so that achieving such success by using creativity, agility, flexibility, skill diversity and IT technology becomes a custom. We scan external environment for comparing industry practices, benchmark best practices and implement competency management programs to offer outstanding services to our valued customers. Enormous and spontaneous shared efforts are made with the strategic intent of achieving excellence in delivering customized services to meet the ever changing development needs of the human resources. We design strategic learning roadmap consisting tailored learning strategies for each of our employee clusters of the business divisions, based on a shared vision, to make us a proud member of a learning organization. We adopt best technology based modules, methodologies, facilities, in-house and external faculties/trainers to ensure the best return from human development investments. Corporate Values of ACI are embedded in the process of designing, developing and delivering each activity of Training Department throughout the organization.

Objectives of the study

Dhaka City is one of the most populated cities in the world. Dust and smoke is everywhere which causes the intensity of washing clothes and hygiene factors every day. Varieties of Detergent Powders are there in the market. So, consumers frequently purchase the detergent powders as their washing materials. The main objective of this paper is to understand the consumers‟ perception about the detergent powder.

To know about the level of satisfaction regarding the preferred product.

To find out the past experience and future expectation from the existing/ new detergent product.

Methodology:

Source of Info: For conducting this research, I have used primary data. To collect primary data I have followed questionnaire method. Firstly, I did an exploratory research. I made a questionnaire and distribute it online over a group of people (who use detergent powder as well as have ideas such as- house wives, purchasing person, house maid, bachelor and others) from where I collected the data. Besides the primary source, I also gathered information from secondary sources like internet, periodicals, journals and others. After collecting the data I have a subjective analysis.

Survey instrument: For doing this research, I made a survey and from that survey I ended up with a conclusion. In the questionnaire I used multiple choice Questions and description from the consumers to understand their attitudes or behavior toward the detergent products. To get proper understanding I used Open-ended questions for recommendations.

Measurement instrument: To find out a meaningful conclusion of this research I summed up the respondents‟ responses in subjective analysis where I showed the statistics, agree or disagreements and other perception based things in percentage form. I hope that the measurement scale used in this report is very simple and palpable.

Sampling process

Sample size: I did this survey over online. The main portions of the respondents were house wives, purchasing person, decision makers, bachelors or those people who are directly involved with using detergent powder. The total size of the sample was 40.

Sample technique: For doing the survey I used non probability technique where there were no chances of selection procedures rather relying on the personal judgment. I used convenience sampling to obtain a sample of convenient elements which totally depended on me.

Promotional activities perception:

Sales promotions as we know are a very important component of marketing promotion. Consumer promotion (e.g. coupons, samples, contests, sweepstakes, and price packs) is a part of sales promotion that is targeted towards the final buyers of consumer products (Kotler and Armstrong, 2002).

Price perception:

According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) price perception is about how customers see a product‟s price, as high, low or fair. They also stated that perception of price unfairness affect consumers‟ perceptions of value and ultimately their willingness to buy a product. According to Moore et al. (2003) years of research concerned with price show both positive and negative perceptions serve as marketplace cues. Several studies have also portrayed the role of price perceptions as an attribute to success (Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2004). When the price perceptions are high this is a sign of positive quality, prestige and status (Moore et al., 2003).

Consumers‟ perception on pricing is unique (Ramirez & Goldsmith, 2009). According to Veale et al. (2009), information and details about the product cost, transaction cost and its accessibility through mass media influence consumers‟ evaluations and reactions to price. If the price is set too low, it may lead to a negative perception on quality (Chandrashkaran & Grewal, 2006).

Product quality perceptions represent consumer judgment about the superiority of a product, which the user-based approaches think is essential in describing quality (Forker et al., 1996). The benefits are measured through a perceived level of quality (level of working superiority), a bundle of attributes in comparison with the consumer‟s expectations. Schiffman and Kanuk (2004) stated consumers often judge the quality of a product on the basis of a variety of informational cues that they associate with the product. They also stated that the cues can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic cues are related to the physical characteristics of the product itself, like size, color, flavor etc. The extrinsic cues on the other hand are related to elements that are put together with the actual product like packaging, pricing, advertising etc. The perceived quality of products and services is central to the theory that strong brands add value to consumers’ purchase evaluations (Low and Lamb, 2000).

Brand Loyalty:

Brand loyalty is the ultimate desired outcome of consumer learning (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). According to Rawly and Dawes (1999) brand loyalty is the likelihood of positive attitudes and behaviors of consumers towards a particular brand, this could amount to repeat purchase and positive word of mouth. They also stated that a loyal customer base is an asset for a company and it reduces the need for seeking new customers. It is also a known fact that retaining current customers requires less money and effort than getting new ones. The strongest measure of brand value is the loyalty a company produces among customers (Aaker, 1996). According to Quester and Lim (2003) brand loyalty is known to have two components, namely attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. Behavioral loyalty is related to consistent purchase behavior of a specific brand; it is the consumer‟s overt purchase behavior (Dikempe et al., 1997) while attitudinal loyalty refers to a highly favorable attitude towards a particular brand.

Detergent powder market in Bangladesh

The current Laundry detergent powder market size of Bangladesh is worth of 12.5 Billion taka. If we calculate the demand, then annually we need 225,600 M.T of these products. Amazingly the growth is increasing 15% in value and 10% in volume per annum (Source: Maxwell Stamp PLC).

As of 2014, in Bangladesh, on an average we need 1.42 kgs of detergent powder per person annually (Source: Maxwell Stamp PLC). We can easily assume how big the market is! Many producers are formulating many detergent powders. It varies by producer to producer, size, quality and price. The major players of this market are:

Surf Excel

Wheel

Rin

Chaka

Keya

Tibet

Fast Wash

Jet

Kohinoor

Tide

Ariel

Among them Surf Excel, Wheel and Rin are the products of Unilever Bangladesh (locally produced). Chaka (Square); Keya (Keya Cosmetics); Tibet, Fast Wash (Kohinoor) are from the local companies. Tide, Aerial and Jet are foreign brands which come thru different distributors to the market.

Locally produced toiletries now play a significant role in the market which has been dominated by imports in the past. These products fall into the category of common consumer goods or commodity product. Import based products are targeted mostly to the middle and high-end segments consumers. Almost all of the local customers are happy with the locally produced detergents as long as the performance is satisfactory and the price is reasonable. While most of the manufacturers focus primarily on meeting the demands of the local market, some firms have started exporting cosmetics and toiletries products from Bangladesh. (Source: Competition

Brand preference: It is very important to know the rationale behind choosing a specific detergent product. That‟s why; I wanted to find out the preference whether consumers prefer the products or the manufacturer (brand) behind the product.

55% of respondents prefer brand (manufacturer) rather than the product and rest (45%) prefers only the product. So, consumers have trust and faith in the brand (manufacturer).

Features behind using current detergent powder: Features make consumers to fetch them using a specific product. Result shows that, the product‟s performance is the main attribute which fetches consumers rather than promotional activities.

Product performance has got the highest preference (85%) then the promotional activities (10%), Shelf display or retailer‟s preference has got 2% and other things got 3%. So, Consumers only prefer that detergent powder which gives the best performance.

Price: How a consumer perceives the price of the currently using detergent powder- as high, affordable, or low – has a strong influence on both purchase intentions and purchase satisfaction.

75% consumers use the detergent which has the affordable price range. 20% thinks that the detergent, they are using is higher than the limit and 5% thinks the price as low price. So, affordable price range can change the game.

Level of satisfaction: Level of satisfaction is that thing which enables free marketing, where the existing consumers talk about the brand( word of mouth) and become a brand ambassador of that brand or product at free of cost. To measure that, I tried to find out the past experience of the users whether they are sticking to a product for the longer time or changed the product due to bad performances.

Those 35% dissatisfied consumers who have shifted to a new detergent powder described the reason behind the shifting into a new detergent powder:

After washing bad condition of clothes.

Quality deteriorated with the passage of time.

Advanced quality product was in the market at the same price.

I asked another question to those 35% (dissatisfied with previous product performance) who shifted to new detergent whether they are satisfied or not with their current detergent powder.

From those 35% of consumers (who were dissatisfied with the previous product and shifted to a new detergent powder) 90% of them are now satisfied with the current detergent powder and 10% of them are still dissatisfied though they have shifted to another new detergent.

Recommending own detergent powder to others: I asked them about whether they will recommend their washing powder to others or not. The result is pretty impressive where 87.5% consumers will be recommending their product to others but 12.5% will not be recommending their product to others.

Suggestions for SMART detergent powder

SMART detergent powder is a new product in the market. Already the market is dominated by the giant products but there are lot of opportunities and scopes for this new product.

In my survey it is clearly stated that, 70% of consumers have the openness to the new product, so they are ready to accept a new detergent brand which is a great opportunity to grab the market. At the same time 87.5% of the customers have the tendency to recommend their product to the others if they are satisfied with the product.

So, this huge opportunity will only be in effect if SMART does the following things:

Using Brand (manufacturer) Image: Consumers’ imagery extends beyond perceived price or anything to the producers themselves. Renowned manufacturers always enjoy a good market penetration than the other manufacturers as consumers are always readily available to take the products from the renowned manufacturers (brand). This thing leads to a positive purchase intension. SMART is from the ACI. ACI is already a known and trusted brand. So, direct representation of ACI will help this product to focus in the market.

Providing quality product: Still now consumers judge a product (detergent powder) on the basis of quality. If the product quality meets consumers’ expectation then there will be no hindrance of a detergent powder of being established. Listed features can ensure the quality product:

After washing good clothes condition.

Best washing capabilities & stain derivability

Good fragrance

Good hand condition (after use)

Outstanding packaging

Ensuring the listed features can help SMART to provide a quality detergent powder.

Easy availability: Consumers always go for those products which are readily available in the market and they can get it any time when they need. So, ensuring availability will lead to consumers’ purchase intention. SMART detergent powder must be available in all the shops and groceries to tell their presence in the market.

Price Factor: Price should be in an affordable range and the pricing must be relevant to the size so that the consumers can easily consume it and become the permanent consumer. Affordable & competitive pricing should be offered to beat the competition.

Promotional activities: Choose the best medium for communication which easily reaches to the target consumers. To communicate with the consumers, easy available mediums like TVC, Online ads, Paper ads can be followed. TVC is the best medium to communicate with consumers and at the same time online ads can be offered as this is an emerging medium to communicate.

Level of satisfaction: Survey tells that, number of dissatisfied customers’ portion is bigger and this portion shifts or converts into the new product. Reasons behind dissatisfactions are:

Unsatisfactory product performance

Deterioration of product quality with the passage of time

Rivals bring better product at same price level.

So, these factors must be verified for the satisfaction level. SMART must ensure all the promises it made to the customers. If all the promises are fulfilled then consumers will be satisfied.

Conclusion

Consumer perception has a vast area. Quality, Price, Promotional activities, Features, Satisfaction level and availability are some attributes of the perception. Because of the time constraints and limitations of information force me to work only in these factors. Ensuring quality product, using brand fame, ensuring easy availability in the market, maintaining fair price, effective promotional mediums will build SMART detergent powder as an established product and will lead to consumers’ satisfaction. If SMART satisfies the consumers then these satisfied consumers will become the ambassador of the product who will help to develop the market.